So this is going to be a test for him.
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I would always rather make a prediction than sit on the fence, but I think this is the hardest season to predict. There are so many variables, so many different factors.
“And I’ve not included Chelsea and that is a risk because they have an experienced group of players who’ve been together and Antonio Conte is a manager who will like a lot of players in the squad”. Will it be as speedy as their main competition? And that’s just the start of it.
He could be joined in midfield by Lee Cattermole and Jack Rodwell, with Yann M’Vila yet to return to Wearside after his loan deal ended at the end of last season. The team’s unraveling last season was nearly as mystifying as Leicester’s march to the title, but the squad is largely the same as the one that romped to the league trophy in 2014.
There has been interest in him from both the Premier League and overseas. Kevin De Bruyne will more than likely start on the right.
Mourinho concluded: “We got them all before the start of the Premier League” and believes “when the transfer window only closes at the end of the month and it becomes normal, nearly a tradition, that people delay and delay and delay”.
It is the existing issues that make things so interesting, though, and make things so unpredictable.
Since taking over, he has brought in four new players and admitted his team have been surprised by one of the new recruits Zlatan Ibrahimovic. They all have something to fix, something to solve. Pep Guardiola, a two-time Champions League victor at Barcelona, comes over from Bayern Munich were he took the Bavarian giants to three straight Bundesliga titles and UCL semifinals, but never got over the hump in Europe.
If he gets going again they could sneak their way to the top. This does of course mean that there’s no European football for their forthcoming campaign and this does supply a big advantage in light of the reduced fixture list. We hope for one team to break up the natural order by sneaking into the top four.
Mauricio Pochettino’s young Tottenham players, among them Harry Kane and Dele Alli, now have the experience of a title race under their belts.
His brightest moment in a United shirt came in August when Depay showed a glimpse of his talent by netting a brace against Club Bruges in his side’s Champions League qualifier.
Arsenal – as ever – are nearly on the other side of the dynamic that characterises Spurs. Instead, it may just be more of the same.
It’s no wonder, then, that there’s often fireworks when they meet.
Of London’s three top sides, Chelsea could be best equipped to go all the way. This season may be too soon.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) – Awash with more cash and global appeal than ever before, the English Premier League is still struggling to lure or retain the elite players in world football like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez. Manchester City and Manchester United sent a message with this series of moves: They’re in it to win it this season.
Mourinho, known for his sometimes prickly disposition, took over the club this summer following the sacking of former boss Louis van Gaal. Manchester United says Paul Pogba has been granted permission to have a medical examination to finalize his transfer to the English club from Juventus. The 22-year-old may have conspicuous defensive deficiencies, but that responsibility mostly falls on the defensive midfielder in one of the Catalan’s teams.
Neither Manchester side is yet flawless, though, and it still feels like they both need to make at least one more signing each.
Without a title in 12 long seasons, Wenger has become grumpier as the years have gone by and arch-enemy Mourinho will no doubt revisit his “specialist in failure” insult he aimed at the 66-year-old Frenchman in 2014.
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Everyone knows that there is hardly any love lost between Juan Mata and his Iberian counterpart Jose Mourinho.
